UF Health has selected two seasoned health care leaders to serve in key roles aimed at optimizing patient safety, high-quality care and medical staff support.
Timothy E. Morey, M.D., has been named chief medical officer for UF Health Shands. Jennifer L. Hunt, M.D., M.Ed., has been appointed chief of staff for UF Health Shands.
Since 2013, Morey has served as chair of the department of anesthesiology, where he has modernized operations to better meet the needs of patients, students, residents, fellows and faculty. Morey will continue to support the department until an interim chair is named.
In his new role, Morey will serve a two-year term as the Gainesville-based hospitals’ physician leader. Morey will oversee patient care and clinical effectiveness while promoting a culture of safety and patient satisfaction. He will chair both the hospital Board Quality & Safety Committee and the Medical Staff Quality & Operations Committee.
A nationally respected clinician and scientist, Morey has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. His research interests include the safe use of residential perineural sheath catheters for postoperative analgesia, assessing medication adherence using exhaled breath, better operating room clinical decision-making and the effects of volatile anesthetics on very young patients. His research has received grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research and other funding agencies.
He is the co-founder of four faculty entrepreneur businesses based on technology developed and patented at the University of Florida. He is a member of the Association of University Anesthesiologists and is a peer reviewer for several professional journals.
Morey earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Florida and completed his residency in anesthesiology at UF Health Shands Hospital. In 1996, he began a pharmacology research fellowship funded by the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research, joining the UF College of Medicine faculty the following year.
“This is an exciting time for UF Health, as we pioneer new ways to improve health and provide the best possible experience for our patients,” said Jim Kelly, interim CEO of UF Health Shands. “We are very confident in Dr. Morey’s leadership and his commitment to collaborating with physicians and staff to advance our core missions.”
Hunt will take on her new role while continuing to serve in her current UF College of Medicine leadership position as chair of the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine.
The chief of staff duties, which previously were combined with those of the chief medical officer, now will fall within this independent role at the Gainesville-based hospitals.
Hunt’s new responsibilities include overseeing credentialed medical staff and serving as the chief medical administrative officer, advising on clinical policies and best practices. She also will be responsible for the application and enforcement of the bylaws, policies, and rules and regulations of the hospital and its medical staff. As chief of staff, Hunt will oversee the Medical Executive Committee and the Credentials Committee.
Hunt is an internationally known head and neck and molecular pathologist who joined UF Health in 2020 after serving for nearly a decade as the Aubrey J. Hough Endowed Professor and chair of pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. At UAMS, she also served as the chief of staff, chair of the credentials committee and chair of the professionalism committee. Hunt has more than 160 peer-reviewed scientific publications in her subspecialty and has also published on medical staff affairs, professional practice evaluation and quality improvement. She is a fellow of the College of American Pathologists and has served in elected board of director roles for the Association for Molecular Pathologists, the College of American Pathologists, the Association of Pathology Chairs and the Florida Society of Pathology.
She received her medical degree and a concurrent master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania, before completing a residency in anatomic pathology and a fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She has held academic appointments and leadership roles at the University of Pittsburgh, the Cleveland Clinic and Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to her medical training, Hunt is also an International Coach Federation-trained and certified executive coach. She has deep experience with coaching in health care, with a particular emphasis on coaching for leadership development and professionalism.
“Dr. Hunt brings a wealth of experience in medical staff affairs to this new role and is poised to work closely with hospital and College of Medicine leadership to provide excellent leadership, representation and support for our credentialed medical staff and providers,” said Colleen Koch, M.D., M.S., M.B.A., dean of the UF College of Medicine and the Folke H. Peterson Dean’s Distinguished Professor.
Media contact: Gary Mans at [email protected]; 352-265-9408.